Off to the Races
by WonderlandSyndrome
Summary: This is the summer she ran away from home, became a unknown starlet, and started drawing that body... - Larxene/Namine - Real Life AU


_Part of a much larger plot bunny I am working on. Warnings for sexual theme, drug references, crime references and some violence._

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**OFF TO THE RACES**

**Chapter 1**

**That Evening She Rolled into Town**

**ooo**

The evening was a typical heat wave expected in the summers of Twilight Town. Everything was dyed in an orange glow with the highest layers of the skies painted in light, starless purple watercolour. Every surface was humid and sticky to touch. The tarmac seemed to steam under foot. People walked the streets in very little clothes, a sheer covering on sweat on every brow. Everyone bakes but no one complains. By winter everything will be below freezing. Some people say it's the way the land is positioned that makes the weather extreme here; that or the build-up of so many buildings in such a small area. No one ever seems to have the right answer.

Like everyone else, Naminé was not wearing much that evening. A plain white dress made of cotton with long sleeves and a short skirt, a pair of knickers underneath and solid-plastic sandals that stuck to her heels while she walked. She wore her hair in a high ponytail to keep it off the back of her neck. Her arms remained white as her legs tanned and her nose became red. Freckles had appeared on her cheeks as she finally made it across town to the loft apartments by the river with her suitcase and handbag.

She stopped briefly to think about jumping into the glittering water, wondering if it was cooler than dry land but decided to go inside. She climbed up six flights of stairs as the lift was out of order, dragging her case behind her and she thought about the water all the way up.

At the sixth floor, she stood in the hallway for a while to catch her breath and retrace her steps in her mind.

Yesterday, instead of going to school, she took her belongings down to the bus station and left her hometown via second-class coach. It took her over a day to get to Twilight Town, and just down this hallway was her cousin's place where she intended to stay the night- uninvited, of course. Not even a little text to say that she was coming to visit. This sort of stuff has to be done without warning. The drama makes life a little more interesting.

When her breath calmed to a regular pace, Naminé rolled her suitcase to the door and rang the doorbell once. She waited for a while and nothing happened, so she pressed it against. She heard the buzz from the other side of the door but nothing else. She tested the handle. It went all the way down but she did not push the door open. She released it and it sprang back into place. It was not locked so someone had to be in.

The third time she rang it, Naminé played a little tune with it which sounded like gibberish Morse code. _Dot-dot-dot dasssh. Dot-dot-dot dasssh. Dot dasssh dasssh dasssh dot._ That managed to do something as she could hurried feet running towards her from inside the apartment and the chain unhinged from its lock and the door swung inwards.

It was Roxas who answered the door in shorts and loose t-shirt. He had changed very little since Naminé saw him last. Still had that boy-next-door type of face with his baby-blues and sandy blond hair, but that hair was now longer and spiked and he had toned up, and the Twilight sunbeams had given him permanent freckles on his nose. Maybe he had grown a little taller too. Naminé did not remember feeling quite that small standing next to him.

Roxas stood there, his mouth hanging a little and his brows almost joining together in the middle as he pulled the most puppy-dog-like expression of confusion.

"Naminé? What are you doing here?"

Then Naminé began to feel again. From the second she woke-up the previous day to that moment standing in front of her slack-jawed cousin, she had become disconnected from everything that she was doing and everything that was happening around her. She did things like walk and buy food at rest stops, but she did not take in the sights or taste the snacks. As she rode the bus she thought about very little. It was easier to get through the journey if she distanced herself from it.

And now she had seen Roxas look so muddled and heard his words of concern, every emotion came flooding back into her mind and froze solid before dropping like a rock into her stomach. She fought back tears but the frown still cracked her impassive mask.

She picked up her case again and turned towards the stairs.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you. I'll just go to a hotel…"

"Naminé!" Roxas yanked the case from her grip and it fell onto the floor with a clatter. Naminé almost fell after it but she managed to keep her balance and hopped back up straight before she tumbled. The pull had startled her enough that tears slipped by and fell down her cheeks. She could not feel the warm water against her hot cheeks, but could tastes the salt as they pooled at the corner of her mouth. Roxas' mouth tensed into a tight straight line. "Nam, did you run away from home?" She did not answer him, because it was obvious that she had and talking would be too much effort in the heat and she feared the heavy rock in her stomach would melt to sludge and escape from her mouth. Roxas shook his head a little and ran back into the apartment shouting.

"Axel! Axel!"

Naminé could hear the mumbling; a steady back and forth of words between her cousin and his boyfriend before she heard the full stop.

"What!"

Roxas reappeared around the door, followed by Axel with his narrow green eyes almost perfectly round with shock. He wore jeans and no shirt. You could be able to see his ribcage pushing against his tight skin and the tattoos he carried. His mane of red hair, usually standing proudly, had limped in the heat and was pulled back into a hair tie. He had a bottle of half-drunk beer in his bony hand. He was so busy getting to the door he forgot to put it down. Naminé stared up at this man almost double her height and watched as he turned mad.

"No! Not another one!" He turned to Roxas and pointed a finger towards the girl. "She is not staying here!" He sounded as if she could not understand him. Little more than a small animal his lover had brought home for the sake of it.

Roxas frowned at him. He seemed hurt by the very idea that Axel would make him turn away one of his cousins. He made a silent plea with his baby-blues. Axel looked away from him to try and avoid it, but only then he saw Naminé standing there, unsure what to do with herself and standing there awkwardly, her shoulders beginning to shake.

Those same damn blue eyes looked up at him.

Axel sighed, kinda pissed off but he accepted destiny as he picked up the suitcase off the floor and carried it inside, mumbling bad words and taking a sip of beer as he did.

Roxas smiled and seemed relieved. He took hold Naminé's hand and lead her inside. She shuffled along in her beach sandals after him and rubbed her eyes with the back of her sleeve. The salt had started to burn.


End file.
